


Renew, Reunite, Bond

by Tyloric



Series: Rehabilitation [2]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, But he thinks his cane is totally awesome, Citadel Spoilers, Everybody Lives, Family, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Seriously can he paint flames on it? Please?, Shepard may be walking with a cane
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-13
Updated: 2013-03-13
Packaged: 2017-12-05 05:51:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/719596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tyloric/pseuds/Tyloric
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The war is over and Shepard survived.</p><p>But who the hell is that sitting on his couch?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Renew, Reunite, Bond

**Author's Note:**

> A fill for the the [insanity round](http://masseffect.livejournal.com/1736810.html) prompt: Reunion.
> 
> Once again assumes an _everything worked out the Reapers are dead no one died hurray_ ending. What? Don't judge me. It makes the fluff easier to write.

"You look like shit," Garrett says the moment he spots John.  
  
John snorts. "Your concern is touching," he says with a smile, limping over to where Garrett sits. He hadn't walked away from the war unscathed - in fact he hadn't walked away at all. He has severe muscle weakness in his left leg (part getting thrown around, part spinal cord injury) as well as scarring from third degree burns, starting at his neck and wrapping around the length of his right arm and down the side of his abdomen. He gets to walk with a cane though, which he thinks is cool but will never say so out loud. He's considering painting flames on it or something.  
  
All things considered, he was lucky to have not died. Again.  
  
He hasn't seen Garrett since the Alliance had taken custody of him all those months ago after that fiasco on the Citadel. It had taken a lot of string pulling and a call to Admiral Hackett, but in the end he'd be assured that they would go easy on Garrett. The word 'rehabilitation' had been tossed around quite a bit. The war has since ended and John had been concerned that Garrett might have slipped through the cracks of Alliance channels - and he'd been right. But apparently Garrett had stuck nearby of his own accord, which had scored him major points with the council.  
  
And so here he is sitting on John’s couch in his apartment.  
  
"How'd you get in here anyway?" He asks, plopping down next to Garrett, making sure to keep a respectable distance between them.  
  
Garrett shifts his gaze back to the news broadcast he's been watching. "Same DNA, remember? Your lock recognized me as you."  
  
"Just can't help yourself, can you?" John chides, pleasantly surprised when Garrett's lips curl up slightly. "How long have you been on the Citadel?"  
  
He shrugs. "A few weeks. Just helping with the clean up. My biotics aren't as strong as yours, but they're enough to help with the heavy lifting." He glances over. "Everyone keeps thinking I'm you. I just tell them it's an uncanny resemblance."  
  
"You should just tell them we're brothers, like we talked about."  
  
Garrett suddenly looks uncomfortable and shifts in his seat a little. "That was a while back. Didn't know if after all that's happened you would still care." It was easy to forget how young Garrett actually is, how unfamiliar with life he still must be, having only been awake for a little over a year.  
  
“Garrett,” John says, his heart breaking a bit. “Of course I still care. Who do you think I am? Brooks?” He regrets saying it the moment it’s out of his mouth, mentally cursing himself for making such a lame and insensitive joke.  
  
But Garrett just laughs, brief and genuinely. “No. You definitely aren’t Brooks.” He stops and looks contemplative for a second. “Garrett Shepard,” he says experimentally.  
  
John grins. “Has a nice ring to it.”  
  
“Yeah,” Garrett replies a bit wistfully, smiling slightly. “It really does.”  
  
A mix of excitement and affection swells inside John’s chest, but he reigns it in quickly. “You’re welcome to stay here as long as you need. Family sticks together.”  
  
This time Garrett smirks. “Where do you think I’ve been staying since I got on the station?”  
  
John blinks and then narrows his eyes. “Okay, you see, we’re going to need to have a talk about boundaries and how not to cross them without permission.”  
  
Garrett flips him off, John smacks him in the arm, and they both start laughing.


End file.
